Ex gold miner director dodges jail

A former gold mining company director has avoided time behind bars for insider trading by the "barest of margins".

Peter Charles Pritchard Farris, 71, readily admitted that he had sold 750,000 Northern Star Resources shares in November 2012, a transaction that avoided losses of $123,975.

The Supreme Court of Western Australia heard on Wednesday that Farris was also a director of the company's institutional investor InvestMet, which he knew was about to substantially reduce its stake in Northern Star.

He'd even read a draft announcement about the sell-down before it went to the Australian Stock Exchange.

But Farris didn't deliberately set out to benefit himself at the expense of others, Justice Stephen Hall said.

Rather, he was frustrated that previous bids to gain permission from Northern Star's chairman to sell his shares had been refused and he also knew that the reduction in InvestMet's stake meant he would likely lose his board position with the gold miner.

Farris had personal loans he wanted to discharge and planned to buy a country property with his wife.